


fairytale of emmerdale

by thisissirius



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 03:09:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9052792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissirius/pseuds/thisissirius
Summary: It’s been December 1st for seven hours when Robert mumbles, “We should get the decorations out,” into Aaron’s shoulder. 

the run up to christmas for robert, aaron and their family :)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dirtylittlegreasemonkey9384](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirtylittlegreasemonkey9384/gifts).



> written for the robronsecretsanta. 
> 
> thanks to @seektheinfinite for giving this a read over :)

It’s been December 1st for seven hours when Robert mumbles, “We should get the decorations out,” into Aaron’s shoulder. It’s far too early for either of them to be awake, and Aaron would punch Robert if he could find the energy to move enough for it. He opts for minimal movement, plants his hand on Robert’s face and shoves him away.

“Shut up,” he grouses, burying his face in the pillow. “Too early.”

Robert squawks - a noise Aaron wishes he had the presence of mind to record - and then recovers enough to tickle Aaron’s ribs. Aaron battles the laughter and plants a knee between Robert’s thighs, expertly flips them over and pins Robert’s hands above his head. Robert’s grin, sultry and triumphant, makes Aaron roll his eyes.

“So this was your plan, huh?” Aaron says, leaning in to brush a kiss to the corner of Robert’s mouth. It’s enough to draw him up, to see Robert’s pupils dilate, but not enough to give him what he wants.

“Maybe,” Robert allows, recovering enough to lean in, run his tongue along Aaron’s jaw. Aaron swallows thickly, fights to keep himself calm. It’s harder than it used to be, now that he can have Robert whenever he wants. “You fell for it.”

Aaron always will, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to tell Robert that. “Did I.”

Trying to look unimpressed, his expression falters when Robert stretches out underneath him as much as Aaron’s grip allows, and then rolls his hips up, slow and torturous. “You will.”

It’s said with such certainty that Aaron almost wants to refute it.

Almost.

 

 

 

“How many decorations do you have?” Liv says, unimpressed, as Robert drops another box into her waiting arms.

Chas looks up from her own box, hair disheveled, grimacing at the dust that spills out of the loft as Robert shifts on the ladder. “Enough to decorate a pub.”

Robert says something, voice muffled.

Aaron rolls his eyes, takes Liv’s place and looks up. Robert’s lean body is stretching into the loft, half of him disappearing into the dark, one knee precariously balanced on the top of the ladder. He looks good, all smooth curves and hidden skin; skin that Aaron knows every inch of, and reacquainted himself with that morning. “Nobody can hear you, Rob.”

Pulling back, Robert brings with him a wad of insulation and another spray of dust. Aaron ducks out of the way just in time, but the ladder wobbles dangerously.

“Hold it, would ya!” Robert snips, looking unimpressed over the top of a bag of tinsel.

“Stop dropping shit on me and I would,” Aaron snaps back, bending to grab the insulation. He tosses it back up to Rob, who catches it deftly with one hand. He then promptly drops the bag of tinsel on Aaron’s head.

“Sorry,” he says, not sorry at all, the asshole.

“That should be enough, Rob,” Chas says, surveying the many bags and boxes littering the landing. “Anymore and we could decorate the entire village.”

Robert snorts, but reaches for the door he shoved haphazardly against one of the loft beams. Aaron watches him shove it back into place, cursing all the while.

“Oi,” Liv yells, and Aaron raises his eyebrows. “You gonna help carry this downstairs, or continue to perv over Rob?”

“Shut up.” Aaron swipes up two of the bags and ignores his mum’s grin, and Robert’s laugh, and ushers Liv down the stairs where he can kill her in private.

 

 

 

The tree is a ridiculous colour, something his mum picked up in Hotten Tesco, presenting it in the living room with a grin. Liv made some comment, mocking, about it being the colour of the bisexual flag, and Robert looked disgusted and interested in equal measure.

Aaron spends about ten minutes watching this little family of his; his mum directing Robert with where to put it, Robert sniping at Liv, and Liv interfering until all three are frustrated, but still wearing matching grins. Aaron can’t help but do the same, happy to have carved something good, something he hopes is _permanent,_ out of the shitty year he’s had.

Liv empties a whole box of baubles onto the floor, much to his mum’s chagrin, but Robert snorts, picking through the mess of round shiny monstrosities, icicles, presents and Disney characters. Aaron’s not sure where they all came from, and nothing matches, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Rob and Liv. They bicker over which ones to put where, whether there should be a colour scheme, and _why do you even have Belle, Aaron, is she your favourite?_

He opens his mouth to refute it, but his mum pats his cheek, grinning. “Wanted to dress up as her once, didn’t you, love?”

“What, no?” He snaps, outraged, even though he knows she’s joking.

“I’d have picked Mulan,” Robert says. At the silence that greets his words, and the looks he receives, he shrugs. “What? She could handle a sword.”

_So can you_ , Aaron wants to say, the words dying on his tongue at the look his mum gives him, but he knows Robert hears it anyway. He grins, eyes wide and hungry, and Aaron promises himself _later_ before grabbing some of the baubles and hanging them on the branches closest to him. His mum’s throwing tinsel on the tree, and now that he’s stopped trying to burn the back of Aaron’s head with his gaze, Robert’s fighting to untangle the tree lights.  

By the time they’re done, the tree has a random assortment of baubles, tinsel and decorations. It’s mismatched in a way that’s sure to hurt their eyes in the coming days, but none of them seem to care, pleased with their work.

“Right,” Robert says, presenting the star with a flourish. “Who’s gonna put it on top?”

He’s looking at Liv as he says it, like there’s no question, and something squeezes Aaron’s chest at his expression. It’s soft and happy. Liv rolls her eyes, like it’s such an imposition to be asked to do it, but she snatches it from Robert and stares down at it, her smile small and careful, but there all the same.

“I need a chair,” she says decisively, but before anyone can move, Robert sweeps her off her feet, hoisting her into the air. “Rob, what the hell!”

She flails for a bit, hitting Robert in the face with the star, but he’s still laughing, and Aaron can’t help but do the same. Finding her balance, Liv looks unimpressed for a beat longer, before planting the star on the top of the tree.

“I hate you,” Liv tells Robert when he drops her back to the floor.

Stepping back out of reach, Robert rests his hands on his hips, cheeks red as he stares at the tree. “Good job.”

“Yeah,” Aaron’s mum agrees, dropping her hands to Liv’s shoulders. “It looks great.”

Aaron steps up next to Robert, waits for the inevitable hand to curl around his shoulders, and fits their bodies together perfectly. “Not bad.”

 

 

 

“I officially hate Christmas,” Aaron says for the hundredth time.

He hates shopping at the best of times, even more so when it’s in Leeds and everyone else seems to have had the same idea. Robert’s on a mission, a list in one hand, bags in the other. Aaron’s sure they must be shopping for the whole of the village at this rate, and that’s without the amount of shit Robert’s already bought online.

“Are we done yet?”

“Ask me that again,” Robert snaps. His temper’s been fraying for the last hour, just as irritated with the other shoppers as Aaron, but determined as ever to get it done. “You’re like a child.”

“I can be,” Aaron mutters. He follows Robert into the next shop — Pandora, he notes absently — and they’re ushered inside by a harried looking attendant. The store’s so packed full of people that Aaron can hardly move, but he threads his way through the store until Robert’s hand squeezes his arm. They’re in front of a display case, a spread of bracelets and charms resting on ridiculous plush cushions.

“What do you think?” Robert says, gesturing at one of the bracelets, a colour that Aaron only knows is rose gold because his mum’s said it a million times. “I thought about getting it for Chas?”

Something in Aaron softens at the look of apprehension on Robert’s face, the brief hesitation before he speaks. “You don’t have to try, Rob.”

Robert shrugs, mouth downturned as he looks at the jewelery. “I just wanna get her something nice,” he says, voice low.

Aaron gets it; Robert and his mum haven’t always been on the best of terms, completely the opposite in fact, but lately there’s been a shift in their relationship that Aaron knows scares Robert. Hatred and contempt he can do; love and acceptance aren’t as easy for Robert to understand or deal with.

“Hey.” Aaron grabs Robert’s arm, turns him around until they’re face to face. He’s aware they’re in a shop full of people — people who are too close and angry — but Aaron ignores them. Robert’s eyes are trained on his face, and Aaron will never tire of the feelings that having Robert’s full attention on him elicit. He’s never felt as important and _loved_ by anyone as much as he does when Robert looks at him like that. “She’ll love whatever you give her, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Robert says, still looking uncertain, his eyes flicking to the display case.

Aaron’s grip tightens on him enough that Robert looks back. “You’ve earned forgiveness,” he says, tone soft. “You hear me?”

Robert swallows and nods. “Yeah, I hear ya.”

“Good,” Aaron says, breaking the moment between them. He leans over the display case and raises his eyebrows. “Think she’ll love ya for the colour alone.”

Robert snorts, more confident as he reaches for his wallet. “As if I didn’t know her favourite colour, Aaron, come on.”

It shouldn’t make Aaron want to kiss him stupid, but it _does_.

 

 

 

Aaron’s pretty sure there are enough presents under their bed for the entire county of Leeds, let alone their family, and Robert keeps piling more under there. When Aaron complains, he at least looks sheepish, but still unrepentant. He doesn’t drag them out until Christmas Eve, when Liv’s in bed and Chas is closing up the pub.

There’s a pile of wrapping paper, scissors and selotape scattered on the floor around him, and A Muppet’s Christmas Carol playing on the TV.

“Haven’t you watched that three times already?” Aaron asks, dropping down onto the sofa.

Robert shrugs, a piece of tape between his teeth as he wrestles one of the presents into paper. It’s a comic, Aaron notices, shiny and new. “It never gets old.”

“Maybe not for you.” Aaron frowns down at the amount of presents still to wrap, versus those under the tree. “Mum would have done this for ya.”

“No,” Robert says immediately, more forcefully than Aaron’s expecting. Before Aaron can call him on it, Robert deflates, folding the edges over on the present, and looking anywhere but at Aaron’s face. “I kinda wanted to do it all, you know? It’s not — before with Chrissie, everything was wrapped already. I’ve never — I’ve never wrapped anything like this properly.”

“Okay,” Aaron says, because he doesn’t know what else to say. “Want some help?”

Robert looks at him for a long time, and then nods quickly. Aaron’s not really great at wrapping, and usually ends up asking Belle to help, but slides down onto the floor next to Robert. There’s a heap of presents to his left, Liv’s pile he knows, and rolls his eyes.

“She really doesn’t need all this,” he says, as he grabs one of the gifts.

Robert’s wearing a grin as he runs the selotape through his fingers, and triumphantly sticks down the tag to Finn’s present. “Course she doesn’t. Still gonna get ‘em, though.”

Aaron snorts, but understands. They’ve just bought a house, he and Liv, and Robert too. Robert’s money that Aaron refused to take for the house, he made Aaron promise in no uncertain terms, would go towards making their first Christmas together the best. Aaron’s not ecstatic that most of the presents they’re gifting this year are paid for with Robert’s money.

“Our money,” Robert stressed, when Aaron’s grumpiness translated into a fight with too many home truths falling between them. “Aaron, if it’s mine, it’s _yours_.”

The thing is, if he’d said that just a year ago, Aaron would have heard _what’s yours is mine_. Now, he just looks at Robert and wonders how they managed to get here, engaged and happy. He’d agreed, kissing Robert right after, chest tight with emotion.

As Michael Caine and a giant Ghost sing about the season of joy, Aaron can’t help but watch Robert, neglecting the presents he should be wrapping. There’s a huge smile on Robert’s face, eyebrows creased in concentration as he sorts presents by family, then person. _I love you_ , Aaron thinks fiercely. Then, because he can, says, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Robert says, eyes soft.

The moment drags on for a beat or two, and then Aaron squints at the pile of presents. “So where are mine?”

 

 

 

That night, presents piled high under the tree, Robert stands surveying the room.

“This is our first Christmas together,” he says, decisively. “It’s gonna be great.”

Aaron can read what he’s not saying in the shadows on his face, the taut line to his shoulders. He deliberately doesn’t follow the thoughts about why this is their first Christmas, and tugs Robert into a hug. He comes willingly, burying his face in Aaron’s shoulder and tangling long fingers into the back of Aaron’s hoodie.

“It already is,” Aaron says eventually, breaking the soft silence between them. “The first Christmas I’ve had in a while that it’s actually felt like it.”

Robert’s smile is wide and sunny, though there’s a sadness to it. “We’ll just to have to make sure all your Christmases feel like that then, eh?”

Aaron nods, throat too tight to speak. Robert kisses him, fingers tight on Aaron’s hips, and Aaron loves him with a fierceness that’s stopped being frightening. They have a busy day ahead, one full of drunken Dingles, Liv’s excitement and frustration, Robert’s uncertainty and apprehension, and his mum’s unfiltered tongue, but Aaron’s going to love every second.

So will Robert, Aaron thinks, as he leans in for another kiss, fingers curling around the back of Robert’s neck. He’ll complain and moan and pretend to hate being surrounded by Dingles, but Aaron knows Robert better than he knows himself. Knows that he’ll soften with every gift dropped into his lap. He’ll offer to help Lisa with the cooking and surprise everyone — including himself — with how well they get it done. He’ll get drunk and play stupid games, shedding the uptight image Aaron’s sure some of his family still label Robert with. He’ll stumble home with Aaron, giddy and happy and vibrating with being accepted and loved. He’ll whisper in Aaron’s ear that he’s happy he has such a big family, and he’s so lucky, and he loves Aaron, _really_ loves Aaron.

That’s tomorrow; for now there’s just the way Robert’s crowding him against the wall, kissing him until their lips are numb. When they pull apart, Aaron says, “Merry Christmas, Rob,” breathless.

“Yeah,” Robert agrees, grin blinding. “It is.”

**Author's Note:**

> my [tumblr](http://sapphicsugden.tumblr.com) is open for you to come chat with me!


End file.
